Page 82 of You Only Love Twice
"It needs a little something," he said.
Adele turned back around, eyeing herself critically in the mirror. "If my mother had her way, it would be a tiara."
"Too much," he told her, eyeing the spread of jewelry on the dresser.
"That's what I told her." Adele toyed with a clutch of pearls, and then traced her fingers over a set of diamonds beside it. "But I do need something to cover the scars."
Faint slash marks marred her neck, some old, some new. Malloryn said nothing as he stepped behind her. Others whispered the Duke of Malloryn was getting used goods—never withinhishearing, of course—but Adele had never been an innocent, and he'd known that.
"The pearls are too plain for a future duchess," he said, snagging the glittery twist of diamonds and reaching around her to hold them in front of her throat.
Adele froze. Her pulse leapt in her neck and her hand hovered there. "They were my grandmother's."
The diamonds looked too harsh. Malloryn rested them lightly against her skin. Standing behind her like this, he could see the heady thump of her pulse in the side of her neck. Silence stretched between them. When he met Adele's eyes in the mirror, her pupils were dilated, and she looked almost hungry herself.
She knew what had caught his interest.
She wanted it.
Malloryn discarded the diamonds. "Wear the pearls then. I don't think it matters."
With that, he turned his back to her, examining the well-made bed and the pretty upholstered chair in the corner, behind a small packed trunk. All her things, packed in a single trunk? He'd expected dozens.
"So, what brings you to my boudoir?" Adele asked, fiddling with the pearls. "I thought it would be the last place you'd ever set foot in, Your Grace... considering your claims this marriage will yield a cold marriage bed."
"It will." He turned around. "I came to warn you actually. I've received word this wedding may not go entirely without hitch."
"Oh? The bride's going to get cold feet, is she?"
"One can hope."
Their eyes met again, and this time Adele almost smiled. She'd settled on the pearls after all. They didn't suit the dress, but he could see she was satisfied with her choice.My grandmother's.... For a moment he was almost curious. It was clear her mother had washed her hands of her daughter, and from what he'd heard earlier, there was no love lost between them, but there'd been something almost wistful in her words when she'd said her grandmother's name.
Don't. Don't think of her as anything other than what she is. Easier that way for both of them.
"So what does that mean?" Adele asked politely. "Not without a hitch?"
"I have heard nothing specific, but if anyone were going to take the chance to get at me, today would be a good opportunity."
"You expect it," she said, watching him very closely.
"I do." After all, if this truly were his oldest enemy, this would be too good an opportunity. "Be prepared for anything. I'll have men on hand, so if someone attacks or attempts to blow the manor up, they'll get you out immediately. You remember Byrnes?"
"That grim-faced Nighthawk who doesn't know how to smile?"
"That's the one. He'll come for you if something happens."
Adele shivered. "Who do you suspect?"
"Someone who doesn't like me very much."
"So it could be anyone then?"
Touché.The girl was swift of tongue. "I see the anticipation of your scheming finally blossoming into its reward has taken none of the edge off you."
"You're the one you said I was a viper, through and through." Adele paused, looking thoughtful. "If something does happen, do you think anyone will be hurt? I have friends, Malloryn.... My sister.... They'll all be here today."
"The matter will be dealt with. I don't intend to have anyone killed at my wedding. It's a bad omen."
